Bush Mum on Buffett's Historic Generosity
With nary a word of praise from Washington, the two wealthiest people on the planet combined their fortunes this week to create the biggest charitable foundation in the world. It's odd to see the world's second richest man, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, transferring some $31 billion of stock to the world's richest man, software mogul Bill Gates. But Buffett says he's giving his money through Gates, specifically through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, because it can do a better philanthropic job with his money than he can. The donation is thought to be the largest charitable gift ever in the US, and it's a gift that comes wrapped in great promise and considerable challenges.Some worry that Buffett's gift could feed complacency, the apathetic expectation that the private sector will tackle difficult, expensive problems. And philanthropy, free of political differences, can do great things. Many believe some problems should not be solved through personal responsibility and private effort. Calls for smaller government can obscure the state and federal governments' social responsibility, and their power to spark progress. Tax cuts can seem more important than vital public investments in human excellence. Buffet himself has been a major opponent of further tax cuts that result in cuts to infrastructure. Buffett said repealing the estate tax, for example, “would be a terrible mistake,” the equivalent of “choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics.”
Buffett strikes some as surprisingly blunt about his political beliefs considering his great wealth. “I love it when I’m around the country club, and I hear people talking about the debilitating effects of a welfare society,” he said. “At the same time, they leave their kids a lifetime and beyond of food stamps. Instead of having a welfare officer, they have a trust officer. And instead of food stamps, they have stocks and bonds.”
Buffett was also opposed to President Bush’s dividend and income tax cuts for the wealthy. “If class warfare is being waged in America,” he wrote, “my class is clearly winning.”
Despite the lack of public recognition from Washington over the historic gift, the donation is a welcome antidote to media stories about crooked business executives and runaway corporate salaries rising faster than the incomes of MIddle Class Americans. Generosity and a do-good spirit aren't dead in America after all. "Huge fortunes that flow in large part from society, should, in large part, be returned to society,'' Buffett said.
The foundation already has a reputation for risk-taking and aggressiveness with a demanding boss who watches over its projects. It can move faster than government bureaucracies in spotting challenges, and it can also take a long-term view on results that election-cycle politicians can't afford.
Gates' money has spurred vaccine research in poor countries on diseases neglected by big drug companies. At home, the foundation has followed its tech roots by pushing for Internet access in libraries and schools while pushing for experimentation in education, such as support for small-sized high schools.
- June 27, 2006
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